Shiga Kogen Imperial Coffee Porter Coko Rwanda by Tamamura Honten

February 23, 2019

Shiga Kogen Imperial Coffee Porter Coko Rwanda is an 8% imperial porter from Tamamura Honten, based in Yamanouchi, in Nagano, Japan. It’s part of their collaborative range with Trunk Coffee, a coffee roasted based in Nagoya. Shiga Kogen Imperial Coffee Porter Coko Rwanda uses a porter base that has been ramped up, and has coffee beans sourced from Coko Farm, based in Rwanda. At the time of writing, it’s unknown whether Shiga Kogen Imperial Coffee Porter Coko Rwanda is a one-off or not.

Shiga Kogen Imperial Coffee Porter Coko Rwanda Aroma and Taste

Shiga Kogen Imperial Coffee Porter Coko Rwanda poured out a pitch black colour with a slight off-white fluffy head that dissipated into a thin ring of oily bubbles on top. I don’t know how much coffee went into the beer, but you can certainly smell the roasted coffee beans when the beer was chilled. The chocolate and roasted black malts were slightly off balanced with the coffee aromas but it did seem a bit weird to amplify the coffee in a style of beer that has coffee as one of the aromas.

The body had an initial roasted bitter coffee kick that had been amplified by the addition of the coffee – you can see where I am going with this already, can’t you? And that’s really the story with Shiga Kogen Imperial Coffee Porter Coko Rwanda. It’s got a lot of coffee going on, but lacking in something to contrast against it. The chocolate and roasted black malts are there once the beer has had a chance to warm up, but the dry coffee body dominates over them. It finished off – wait you’ve already guessed what I’m going to say haven’t you?! – a lingering coffee flavour.

Shiga Kogen Imperial Coffee Porter Coko Rwanda The Bottom Line

I like coffee. I like dark beers. But this just seems a waste with its fairly one dimensional approach. It’s not a bad beer, but it does get boring.

Where to Buy Shiga Kogen Imperial Coffee Porter Coko Rwanda

Shiga Kogen Imperial Coffee Porter Coko Rwanda can be bought online at the following places: